The present invention relates to shoes and more particularly relates to dance, exercise, gymnastic, martial arts and yoga shoes that provide foot support without impeding natural foot movement.
In recorded history, every culture has had some form of dance. Some forms of dancing exhibit simple movements, while other dance forms, such as ballet, have very complex movements. Regardless of the type of dance, all forms of dancing require the dancer to use his or her feet. Standard foot movements include stomping, flexing, pointing, jumping, turning, sliding, articulating, and leaping. These movements are executed on a wide variety of substrates such as tile, wood floors, carpet, marley and mats. In many instances, the dance substrates have imperfect or uneven top surfaces, which may be caused by moisture, dirt, splinters, oil, dust, powder, adhesive, etc. The imperfect top surfaces may cause discomfort or injuries to feet.
A typical shoe has a continuous sole that extends from the toe region to the heel region of the shoe. In order to enhance flexibility, many shoes now have a split sole that splits the outsole of the shoe between a front portion beneath the toes of the foot and a rear portion beneath the heel of the foot. These split sole designs have no sole below the arch region of the shoe, which generally improves the overall flexibility of the shoe, and particularly the mid-section or arch region of the shoe. Examples of shoes having split sole designs include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,519,148 and 4,554,749, which disclose dance shoes having a split sole design, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,541,186 and 4,542,598, which disclose athletic shoes having a split sole design.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,685, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, teaches a dance shoe or slipper having a split front and rear soles separated at the arch. To enable a dancer to stand on pointe, the front sole is “cup” shaped with a generally “C” shaped cross-section. The upstanding wall of the front sole is attached to the sides and may extend up the front of the shoe box, which enables the front sole to bend upwardly about an axis across the foot when the foot bends but prevents the front sole from bending downwardly about the axis.
A shoe upper is typically made of leather, stretchable leather, fabric, or other flexible materials that enable the shoe to flex as the foot moves. The shoe upper may also be made of an elastic or stretchable material. In conventional split sole designs, the flexible, elastic or stretchable nature of the shoe upper typically results in gapping of the material in the arch region or mid-section of the shoe. The existence of gapping, which results in the formation of a space between the arch of the foot and the mid-section material overlying the arch of the foot, is undesirable for a number of reasons. First, the existence of gapping is undesirable because the mid-section of the shoe is not supporting the dancer's arch. Second, the existence of gapping results in the mid-section of the shoe not conforming to the contour of the dancer's arch, which diminishes the aesthetic appearance of the foot.
The have been a few efforts seeking to avoid sagging of the mid-section of split sole shoes. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,284, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, teaches a dance shoe having a split sole, with a front sole portion supporting the front of the foot, a rear sole portion beneath the rear of the foot and no sole beneath the mid-section of the shoe, i.e. beneath the arch of the foot. To help support the foot and prevent sagging of the mid-section of the shoe upper, a band of flexible, but non-stretchable, fabric is stitched inside the shoe upper. The flexible fabric extends from the bottom of the shoe upper, over the sides of the shoe upper, and to the top of the shoe upper. The stitched-in fabric material supports the mid-section of the shoe, minimizes sagging, and permits unhindered flexing and bending of the foot. When the shoe is closed or laced, the closing of the top of the shoe upper pulls up on the band.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,124 and U.S. Patent Appln. No. 2003/0029055 teach a dance shoe having a diamond shaped “gusset” region that covers the arch of the foot. While the split sole shoes disclosed in the above-identified patent references have been shown to provide enhanced flexibility in the arch region of the foot, these split sole designs provide inadequate arch support. In addition, the material in the arch regions tends to bunch up below the arch when pointing, making the wearer both uncomfortable and very aware of the shoe being worn on the foot. Bunching also diminishes the aesthetic appearance of the shoe, which may reduce the confidence of the wearer.
In view of the above, there remains a need for a dance shoe that provides minimal resistance for at least six foot movements including flexing, pointing, resting, toeing, articulating, turning and spinning. The at least six foot movements may be referred to as “six degrees of freedom.” There is also a need for a dance shoe that provides adequate support as the foot moves through the at least six foot movements discussed above. In addition, there is a need for a split sole dance shoe that provides adequate support for the mid-section of the shoe. There is also a need for a dance shoe that minimizes gapping, bunching, buckling, pinching and puckering of the material that covers the arch region of the foot.